


Warmth

by astralComedics



Series: Different Lives [3]
Category: Red vs. Blue
Genre: Established Relationship, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-30
Updated: 2014-10-30
Packaged: 2018-02-23 07:01:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,474
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2538581
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/astralComedics/pseuds/astralComedics
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Do you mind telling me what that is, exactly?"<br/>"This is a baby, Felix."<br/>AU Prompt: Found an abandoned baby.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Warmth

Locus stood in the lobby to the hotel where he worked, getting dressed to walk home in the frigid winter wind. Since he despised being cold, and despite his ability to withstand it well, he always made sure to bundle up. His boyfriend, Felix, would oft poke fun at him for it. Felix always poked fun at him for many things, so Locus had gotten quite good at ignoring him.

Once he was sufficiently dressed, Locus exited the building and started the walk home. The apartment he shared with Felix wasn't far from the hotel, so he walked, giving Felix the car to drive to his job. Working shifts at such different times could be difficult to deal with, they found.

While walking, Locus took a shortcut through an alleyway. He had recently found it to be more efficient, and thought about taking it routinely. The only factor really deterring him from doing so was the litter and garbage that cluttered the road. For an alley, it was particularly messy, and Locus hated mess. As he was staring at the garbage in complete detestation, he heard something rustle. He ceased walking to better find where it was coming from. Upon figuring out it was the garbage shifting around, he assumed it to be an animal and continued on his commute home. That's when he heard a faint sound coming from the pile of trash that had been moving about. Again, he stopped walking, seeing if he could hear it again, which he did, only a bit louder. The sound was consistent, and he could tell it was growing in amplitude, though he wasn't sure what it was. When he listened closely, he realized it was the cry of an infant. He wrinkled his nose, and returned to where the crying was coming from. He crouched down and dug around in the snow covered garbage when he uncovered the face of a newborn baby.

“Peculiar,” He uttered to himself after staring at it while it wailed. He looked around the alley, hoping to maybe see some place nearby where a homeless person could have been staying. Maybe they had just left their child and would be back shortly? But he found no such thing. His attention fell back on the newborn, who had appeared to calm down, when he was confronted with two choices; leave the child to freeze in the harsh weather, or take it home and warm it up before taking it to the police. An old memory crept into his mind, and it helped him settle on his decision. He knew Felix wasn't going to be happy with his choice.

*****

“Locus, I'm home,” Felix called as he removed his shoes in the entryway. “You got supper on?”

“Yes, it should be done shortly,” he heard Locus reply from the kitchen.

“Great, because I'm starving,” Felix threw down his bag and sat in one of their nearby armchairs. He reclined in the chair and sighed, feeling great to finally be off work. He inhaled deeply, taking in the smell of supper and listening to the sweet sound of boiling vegetables and a crying child. He immediately sat back up and looked in the direction of the kitchen with confusion. Him and Locus didn't have a child?

“Locus what the fuck is that sound?” he asked him.

“It's nothing, don't worry about it.”

Felix narrowed his eyes, stood up and walked into the kitchen. When he saw Locus cradling an infant in his arms, he froze in place.

“Um, Locus,” Felix said. “Do you mind telling me what that is, exactly?”

“This is a baby, Felix,” Locus answered in a flat tone, without looking up from the child.

“I know what the fuck it is,” Felix replied harshly. “What the fuck is it doing in our house?”

“I found it in the garbage while I was walking home from work, so I—”

“Found it in the garbage?” Felix asked in disbelief. “Perfect! You should have left it there!”

“If I did that, it would freeze, and it would die,” Locus explained.

“Even better!”

“Felix, shut up,” Locus said in a stern tone, as he was starting to become increasingly irritated with the man.

“You can't just keep the baby,” Felix crossed his arms and leaned on the wall beside him. “If you care soooo much, go give it to the police.”

Just as Locus opened his mouth to reply, the buzzer on the oven went off and instead he stood up. He held out the baby to Felix, who of course didn't take it.

“Felix,” Locus said. “Take it.”

Felix didn't move, he just glared at the kid. Locus shook the baby a little. So Felix sighed and grabbed it from him, holding it up under its arms and staring at it with disdain. As soon as Locus turned away to tend to supper, the infant begin crying. Fuck, Felix thought. He looked over the squirming little human, as if there would be a mute button on it somewhere. Of course he didn't find one, so he shook it violently instead, which only worsened the issue.

As the screams of the baby grew louder, Locus turned around to see Felix rattling it about. “What the hell are you doing?” He asked him.

“It won't shut up,” he answered in frustration. “How the fuck do you make kids stop crying?”

Locus approached Felix and took the child from his hands. Felix reacted to him with a roll of his eyes.

“You do not aggressively shake a child to make it be quiet, You'll hurt its small, undeveloped brain,” Locus scolded him.

“That what happened to you?” Felix remarked.

Locus ignored him, and once again, cradled the newborn in his arms. As soon as it was comfortable, its cries died down to small whimpers, and then nothing. “See, this is how you hold an infant, maybe bounce it up and down ve—.”

“I was bouncing it up and dow—” Felix protested.

“Very gently.”

“How do you know so much about taking care of children, anyway?”

“I had a lot of younger siblings,” was he swiftly delivered answer.

“Yeah, okay,” Felix resumed his position of leaning on the wall. “You know, taking care of small animals is a lot of responsibility.” he added in a condescending tone.

“I would know, since I live with one,” Locus quipped.

“Hey, hey,” Felix gave Locus some time to stare at him before he continued. “Up yours.”

Locus just shook his head and went past Felix into the living room. “Supper's done, by the way,” he mentioned as he traveled by him.

Felix smiled at the words. “'Bout time,” he said, going deeper into the kitchen where the stove was, grabbing a plate and serving himself. He heard Locus putting on his coat, so he called at him to ask him where he was going.

“Taking the baby to the police, like you suggested,” he answered.

Felix nodded with a fork hanging out of his mouth. “Good idea,” was his garbled response. Locus said nothing in return, he just closed the front door. Rather loudly, Felix noticed, but he didn't really care.

Later that night, after Locus came home and ate and the two of them were in bed falling asleep, Felix turned on his side to face Locus's back and he nudged him, asking him to turn around.

“What do you want?” Locus asked, ignoring his gesture.

“Are you upset or something?” Felix asked.

“Not especially,” Locus replied. “No more than usual.”

Felix nodded. “Okay.”

They were silent once more before Felix spoke again. “Why did you care so much about the baby anyway?”

“I didn't,” Locus replied, a pause before his answer.

“Could of fooled me.”

Locus didn't return with anything; he was quiet. His mind was drifting back to recollections of a small child, huddled in a thin blanket on a cold winter night, with no place to go and no place to call home.

“Well?” Felix poked him forcefully with his index finger.

“I knew someone once who had to live in the street,” Locus answered. “I made a connection to the baby with that person, and I had a slight waver in my judgment, so I took the child. Nothing more.”

“So you felt sorry for it?” Felix snorted. “I didn't know you could do that.”

“Shut. Up.” Locus said in a commanding tone. “And go. To sleep.”

“Whatever,” Felix waved at Locus dismissively and turned around. “Have a good sleep, loser.”

Just before Felix fell asleep, he felt Locus's arms wrap around him, and the warmth of his body press into his back. Locus seemed to be rather fond of cuddling, but Felix never mentioned it to anyone. He once asked him about it, and Locus just told him that he got cold at night.


End file.
